Without too much fanfare, Alcatel has recently added two more handsets to its One Touch Idol portfolio; the Idol S and the Idol Mini.

Of the two, the Idol S has a slightly better configuration sporting a 4.7-inch IPS display with 720p resolution, 1.2GHz dual-core processor with 1GB RAM and an expandable 4GB storage. It also comes with an 8MP rear camera that can shoot full-HD clips at 30fps, as well as a 1.3MP front-mounted snapper.

It comes in three color variants; Slate, Cherry Red and Fresh Rose. The Idol S’ pricing and availability is yet to be announced as of this moment and the same goes for its entry-level counterpart.

Now heading over to the Idol Mini, it’s got a 4.3-inch FWVGA display, 1.3GHz dual-core processor paired with 512MB RAM and 5MP rear camera complete with an LED flash. Apart from the three color options (Cranberry Pink, Silver and Slate), the Idol Mini will also be available in single SIM (which comes with 4GB internal storage) and dual-SIM (8GB) versions.

What I don’t get is the obvious attempt of Alcatel to try and match Lenovo, Huawei, ZTE and other 2nd-tier manufacturers while not having the same reputation as the rest do.

Alcatel needs to lower their standards, pronto.

Local brands are eating them alive and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future if their current pricing and marketing scheme continues.

P.S. While JB might have Project Butter, 512 Mb RAM is still 512 Mb RAM. It may run fluently, but you still don’t have enough headroom to run apps simultaneously. I’m not saying they should give it a ginormous amount of RAM. They should at least just be aware that even the “lower-tiered” competition from local brands have entry level phones that don’t feel like it came from 2011.

If their flagship is named One Touch Idol, the Mini version should still be representative of the positive traits from the bigger model and not an obvious attempt at penny-pinching by the accountants at Alcatel. Just look at the Mini versions of the Motorola X, HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4.

But of course, if the flagship itself, which is your starting point to make a Mini version from, SUCKS… Well, you get my point.